Then again, there comes a point in some pieces when I start grumbling. "If I were a painter, I'd be done with this by now. In fact, I'd probably be done with THREE paintings by now."
Guess where we are with the magpie linocut.There are a couple of problems. The first is that the shadow on the underside of the magpie's belly is too light. I'm trying to suggest that the viewer has discovered the bird in the foreground shade, escaping from the summer heat and bright light of the background. The magpie's belly is white, but in shadow it appears more gray, and even reflects some of the green of the leaves. There are also a few bright white spots where the sunlight gets through.
Clearly it needs to be darkened, but the block material that printed this original too-light gray was carved away long ago.
So here are the choices:
1) Forget the darker belly/shadow idea and just let the bird come forward. (Easiest, therefore least likely solution.)
2) Pochoir ("pounce") the color directly onto the print. (Too large a space to cover delicately. At least for my skill level with the technique.)
3) Carve a second block. (Stay tuned, we might yet come back to this because I tried option 4.)
4) Cut a stencil, use it to ink an UNCARVED second block, and print from the second block.
Option #4 it is.
I cut a piece of mylar and traced onto it an outline of the shape I would like to have print gray. I used a print-in-progress and the already-carved block to determine this shape.
Here you see the cut stencil placed over the already carved block to check that it lines up.
And here it is on the UNcarved block, ready for inking.
So far, so good. I used a small brayer to ink the block, but the stencil has some very thin shapes that the brayer couldn't reach, so I used a stiff paintbrush to make sure ink got into all the corners.
Everything was going fine and I was already composing my triumphant blog post in my head when I realized that my prints were still kind of tacky from the last ink layers. Perversely confident in my ability to burnish just the inked belly with olympic-level motor coordination skills, AND impatient to get this image finished, I plowed ahead anyway.
And promptly trashed three prints. The too-tacky ink on the print adhered to the dry areas of the second block as I rubbed, and when I pulled the prints back they left chunks of paper behind.
Sigh.
I knew this could happen, but sometimes I just don't want to take my own good advice. Will I know better next time? Of course. Will I make the same mistake again? Oh, probably. I said I love printmaking. I never said one word about actually learning anything. ;-)
There is another option, which I have used on occasion (shhh, don't tell anyone). You can finish printing all the rest and when done, cut out the portion of the print you want to redo and insert a same sized piece of uncut lino into the hole and recarve to show just the part you want to print. Ink and print. Et voila! Are you using cobalt drier? It really helped speed the drying time on my last print.
ReplyDeleteWon't be the first time or the last - I do it all the time too. Impatience! Yes painting is quicker (which I do as well as printing) but at least as a printer we get to make lots more mistakes, on lots more images!
ReplyDeleteAs for transferring the area, wouldn't it be easier to transfer direct from the print to the 2nd block.
Keep it up Sherrie, you do good work.
oops :/ yeah i learned that could happen the hard way with prints for school.
ReplyDeletei'm becoming addicted to print making, its take a lot of time but i find it relaxing
Don't do printmaking...maybe that's a good thing :)
ReplyDeleteBut I do understand impatience and the desire to just force a piece to be DONE! Usually, with throwing clay this means a a bowl falls in or the edges sag or..well, you get the idea.
Keep on keeping on, I always say :)
Thanks Wendy... this lino is mounted on MDF, so I don't think I could do a carve-and-replace without making a bigger mess. (Bigger messes being one of my best skills, clearly.) I used to use drier frequently, but got nervous about it as a nasty chemical. Plus I don't like the smell. But it could be it comes out again soon.
ReplyDeleteEric, yes indeed, I'll be doing that now. I was trying to avoid carving on the second block and to just use it as a holder for stenciled ink... but this time it didn't work.
Rut ro... Jen is becoming a print junkie... should we tell her to run now, or wait until she's completely hooked?
Thanks for the impatience commiseration, Susan. I know we all do it...But life all around us is impatient, and maybe that's why art-making is so important: To remind us that we can move at a more considered pace.